Itta Bena

So my girlfriend and I came here for Magical Dining Month. We love Magical Dining Month, but we also wish there was a dinner for two option. Like, one app, two entrees, and one dessert for like $55. That would be awesome. Anyway, I digress. So the atmosphere of this place is absolutely beautiful. It's definitely southern, but it's also definitely upscale southern. It was like eating in a five-star barn. Btw, if you check in on the Yelp app offers you 15% off your bill, which awesome, but it does not stack with the Magical Dining Month. So we ordered two apps, the Fried Avocado (stuffed with lump crab meat salad, warm house remoulade, pico de gallo) and the Crispy Pork Belly (house-made slow roasted, scratch cornbread, citrus & balsamic glaze). The fried avocado was super creamy. Super duper creamy. The richness of the avocado and the crab salad was heaven on my tongue, and the pico cut right through it with it's acidity. It was a really nice bite. The pork belly was just that, pork belly. Just imagine a really nicely cooked cube of belly. The fat was rendered down perfectly and just melted in your mouth. The really different thing on this plate was the cornbread. It was not traditional cornbread. It was in the shape of a French toast stick, and with the glaze on the plate, it was reminiscent of one, too. It's hard to describe, because it's so unique. If you have to have only one app, make it this one. We also got two entrees, the Grilled New Zealand Lamb Chops (served with crispy fingerling potatoes, grilled asparagus, cherry demi glace) and the Maple Leaf Farms Duck and Waffles (confit of Maple Leaf Farms duck, savory rice waffle, blueberry hoisin reduction). The lamb chops were cooked to a perfect medium rare, and there were six little chops on the plate, which is more than you usually get at restaurants, I feel. So good. So decadent with the glace. The glace was very cherry-like, though, which shocked me, but it works. Potatoes were good. Asparagus is never done well enough at restaurants, in my opinion. Get some char on those suckers. The duck and waffles were mind-blowing. That waffles was so thin and crisp on the outside, but light, airy, and fluffy on the inside. Perfect waffle. I feel like it being a rice waffle made it more crisp. The duck was sooo good. Moist and juicy and seasoned awesomely well. It was the perfect partner for my waffle. The hoisin reduction was a good sauce to tie it all together. Sweet vs savory waffles is always a debate, but this kind of made it both. Top notch. Get this entree. For desserts, we got the White Chocolate Bread Pudding (golden raisins, rum caramel sauce) and the Bourbon Pecan Pie (topped with whipped cream and candied pecans). The bread pudding was interesting. It was more like a bread pudding flavored cake, but it was still delicious, and the caramel sauce was top notch. The dessert winner, however, was the pecan pie. Take pecan pie filling and use it for the glue of some pecan squares. It was ooey and gooey and delicious. Look at the photo and go get it. Overall, this place was awesome. It had some truly unique offerings that I have never seen before, and it executed them very well. Our service was top notch, and the flavors were truly contemporary southern, as promised. Looking at the menu, there are so, so many offerings that I have to go back and try. Will be coming back.